All Good Things
Chapter Twelve - The Waves Have it
On Board the Enterprise
May 2274
Nyota
Her work for the evening was finally finished. She truly detested all the paperwork that quarterly reviews necessitated, although she did see the reason for the reviews. If people knew where they were not performing up to standards, they could do something about it, but it took her longer to fill out the paperwork than it did to have the one-on-one meetings! She was about to rise from the desk when the comlink chimed. She absently pressed the accept button, expecting that it was Jim or Chris, or another of their friends, and was surprised to see Selek's face appear. And then knew instantly why he was calling. Her face lit up and she waited to hear what he would say.
"Durra has this day been delivered of a daughter, whom she insists will be called T'Ula. She is tired, but happy. There were no complications, although this labor did seem to weary her more than the previous ones." Selek's face wore a look of slight concern. "I fear her age affected her more this time."
Nyota was nodding. "She is reaching the outside age of most human women for childbearing. But I know how much she wanted a second daughter, to balance your two sons. She waited so long for a chance to have a family, and she loves her children so much."
"Indeed she does. And she is an excellent mother." He was quiet for a short while, and then gave his tiny smile. "It is something I never anticipated, to be a father, and of so many children. I find it to be most enjoyable."
Nyota laughed. "Children are life's greatest treasures. As I am sure you have found. Now tell me about this newest daughter."
"She is almost exactly the same length and weight as her older sister, and has the same wavy hair as all three of her older siblings. I do not understand this. Wavy-haired Vulcans are simply not heard of."
Nyota was giggling helplessly at this. "But two of Elinor's children have curly hair - and the latest is red, to boot!"
"This is true. I had thought of that. Perhaps I should be grateful for waves." But his eyes were twinkling. "She was very vigorous at birth, and has an extremely loud voice, which was heard through the bedroom door by T'Pau, who had come to wait in our living room for the birth. She is sleeping now, as is Durra, but she stayed awake long enough to meet her older siblings, who are quite taken with her. Smark wished to take her out to show her off, but Senek scolded him, telling him that she was much too young. T'Ama was simply fascinated, and wanted to climb up on the bed beside Durra to get a closer look." He practically glowed with happiness and pride, but Nyota would never tell him how plainly she could read him.
She was about to reply when Spock appeared over her shoulder, having heard the familiar voice. "Greetings, Selek. Or perhaps I should offer congratulations."
"Either is highly acceptable, Spock. I do appreciate your kindness and will tell Durra when she awakens."
"Your family is now of a very nice size. It is the largest in the clan, is it not?"
"Indeed it is, although I am not so sure that it will stay that way for long. There are younger families in the clan, who almost certainly have not stopped having children."
Now Nyota chimed in again. "The clan is growing nicely. The must be as many children as adults now."
"Very true. And I am sure that in a few more years the balance will swing over to more children and stay that way for many years. I do not believe that the tradition of only two children to a family will return any time soon."
"No, I'm sure that's true. Until the population has been rebuilt, larger families will almost certainly be the rule, rather than the exception. The schools must be getting crowded."
"Yes, they are building additions again. First they build an addition to the primary school, and a few years later an addition to the secondary school, and then a few years after that to the Academy, and then they start over again."
Spock nodded. "This is a very sensible arrangement. However, eventually, the space currently occupied by the school system will be so crowded that they will have to build elsewhere, I would think."
"And that day is not too far off. There is perhaps room for one more set of additions, and then a new primary school will have to be built, and the settlement divided into two school districts. There is some unhappiness over this, but it is the natural consequence of the growth of our population."
The conversation continued for a short while longer, and then Selek said that he must go and attend to his sons, who were beginning to be too loud. He did not wish them to wake either the baby or Durra. When she had cut the comlink off, Nyota sat quietly for a moment, and Spock reached over to gently touch the side of her face. "What are you thinking, k'diwa?"
She leaned into his hand, letting her thoughts and emotions wash over him. "I am thinking that it is almost time to make our second son."
His voice was soft and warm against her. "Another few months."
"Yes. I'll have to remember to speak with Chris ahead of time, and make arrangements for them to care for Grayson and Amanda for a few days."
"It is still early yet to arrange this. But not too soon to think of it. Things do become more complicated as the size of our family increases."
She nuzzled against him in satisfaction. "But we haven't caught up with Selek and Durra yet." Her voice was full of laughter.
"Indeed not. They did start before we did. Although it is also quite likely that they will stop before we will."
She giggled at him and wrapped her arms around him. "I am not ready to stop yet, adun. But I am ready to practice now."
"But the children are still awake. I am afraid that you will have to postpone your practice session until they are asleep." But she could hear the suppressed laughter in his voice.
"Perhaps they could be distracted."
"I think that is highly unlikely. They would be much more likely to attempt to join us at a most inopportune time."
She was giggling again. "Most inopportune. Yes, that's our children all right."
He straightened up and looked down at her, his eyes twinkling. "But do not forget what you had in mind. I would be most interested in pursuing that activity as soon as they are asleep." And with that he turned and headed for the playroom, to check and see whether they were ready for a story yet. He did not fool her in the slightest, his interest in the planned activity extremely obvious to her.
